A Different Kind of Danger
by TheHardestFall
Summary: Dianakko Week 2018 entry! Day 2. Diana and Akko are decidedly in love after saving the world together, and Diana couldn't imagine being with anyone else. Unfortunately, her aunt and proxy head of House Cavendish, Daryl, has other ideas. Can Diana win out with her aunt and gain control of not only her love life, but her future as well?


Hey hey hey everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my day two entry! I hope you all enjoy it! Sorry it's coming so late, I had a near miss disaster with my laptop which still isn't quite resolved but hopefully will be soon. Thanks to Kinoco-cha and symbiotic for the day one review! I really appreciate the feedback and I'm glad you guys enjoyed the fic!

And I would also like to take a minute to thank my stupendous beta, ImaginaryEngineer! I'll never stop saying it, I couldn't do it without her!

Edit: I'm a horrible person and forgot to thank madiKaldwin(author of Halfway to Infinity (the space fic this fandom didn't know it needed) for consulting on this!

DayTwo- Danger

A Different Kind of Danger

The late spring night was still and peaceful. The star-filled sky twinkled merrily while crickets chirped a little symphony, the melodies and syncopation- understood only by them- being carried along on the gentle breeze. It crossed over the grounds of Luna Nova, over freshly mown grass and flower beds, through trees and across stone walkways, eventually making its way to a pair of young lovers laying on the soft grass.

Well hidden by both hedges and trees, you wouldn't know if they were there unless you heard them, which is why neither one was talking.

Until Akko broke the silence with a concerned whisper. "Diana you don't have to."

The blonde sighed. "Yes I do, Akko."

"She's going to lose her mind!"

Diana turned her head so she could look at the witch laying next to her. "If she pushes one more suitor on me, _I'm_ going to lose _my_ mind. It's my life, I'm going to live it the way I want to."

Akko snuggled closer to Diana while the blonde went back to looking at the sky, laying her head on her girlfriend's chest."You're seventeen, she shouldn't be pushing suitors on you period."

Diana caught the tone in Akkos voice and turned her head to look at her girlfriends face, a smile playing at her lips. " Why Miss Kagari, are you, perhaps, jealous?"

Akko lifted her head outrage, and a soft blush, illuminated by the moonlight on her face "Am not!"

"Shhh! Akko keep your voice down, please! Before someone hears!"

The brunette lowered her voice "I am not jealous! I just- this isn't the twelfth century you know. It's not like you _need_ to be married off or anything."

Diana sighed and looked back up at the night sky "I know, it's just… It's something that's expected of me. I should at least be _considering_ potential matches."

"But you're not even straight." Akko pointed out softly. "`All it would do is make you unhappy. Unless you don't…" she trailed off, causing Diana to look over at her. There was a melancholy look to her face now, and she wouldn't look at Diana. It wasn't hard for the blonde to figure out what was going through her head.

She reached over and touched Akkos cheek, gently turning her girlfriends face, so she could look into her eyes "Of course I want you Akko. Don't ever think any different." Then Diana leaned in and kissed her softly, their lips brushing in a chaste but meaningful kiss "You're worth the fight, and I will fight for you. That's a promise."

They looked at each other for a moment, Diana smiling fondly at Akko, and Akko trying to fight back a flood of emotions. They kissed again, tenderly, holding each other close and letting the love flow. This was their last night together before Diana left for Cavendish manor. It would be a quick weekend trip, but Diana was insistent on making it. And Akko was the only one who knew the real reason why.

Diana was going to tell her aunt about Akko.

She didn't want her too. She had fought long and hard with Diana over the issue. As proxy head of House Cavendish, Daryl could rain total hell down on Diana, who was helpless to do anything to stop it. She could even disown her, something that would completely destroy Diana. Her dream was to fix her family, and disownment would rip everything away from her. And it would all be because of Akko.

To make it worse, Diana wouldn't let her go with her either. In fact, that might have been the worst part. Something bad was going to happen to Diana, and Akko couldn't be there for her. She couldn't stand by her side and hold her hand or be her shoulder to cry on.

Or shoot a nice _Murowa_ at her aunt's head. "I wish you would let me go."

Diana sighed. "Akko, we've discussed this."

"I don't care. I don't want you to go alone. You need the support." Helpless frustration reflected in Akkos eyes, and Diana couldn't help but feel bad.

However, she didn't want to expose Akko to Daryl's wrath and that took priority over Diana's feelings "No, Akko. You're not coming, not this time. But," she cut Akkos retort off before it left the girls mouth. "When I come back, I promise I'll make it up to you."

Akko looked over at Diana and was surprised to a see a playful, borderline seductive smile on her face. It was a rare sight, Diana was always very reserved in public, and even in private she could be hard to read at the very least. Akko tried her best, but sometimes Diana just... didn't give anything. She made Akko work for it.

This was going to be one of those times, and Akko just didn't want to fight. So instead she laid her head back down on Diana's chest and closed her eyes, listening to her heartbeat "Alright…"

Diana stroked her hair gently "It's going to be ok… It's going to be ok…" She said it softly, trying to sooth Akkos fears while desperately wishing she could believe it herself.

(*~*~*~*~*~*)

A chestnut door stood in Diana's face. Hardwood, with six panels evenly spaced, she had glared at that closed door in passing more times than she could count. Either because her aunt had said or done something, or because Maril and Merrill had taken digs at her and Daryl failed to stop it. Or because Diana had done something Daryl found displeasing and called Diana to her office to scold her. The thought of it made her cringe still.

Looking down, she adjusted her already perfect blouse one more time, then patted her back pocket to make sure her wand was still there, just in case. Finally, out of reasons to stall, Diana adjusted her posture and lifted her fist to knock, only to hesitate at the last second. It wasn't too late. She could just turn and walk away right now and be done with the whole thing.

 _No. No, I can not do that. She isn't going to control my life anymore. I'm done having her shadow over my head, and I'm done allowing her to think she can arrange some marriage for me. I won't allow it. Twenty seconds of courage. Do it._

She knocked.

At first there was no response, and Diana actually relaxed a bit. Maybe she didn't have to-

"Come in!" The edge in the voice was unmistakable.

 _Damn it._ Diana turned the knob gently and walked in.

Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time she had been in there. Three of the four walls were still lined with old bookshelves, packed and bowing under the weight of hundreds of books, scrolls, and various magical artifacts. The fourth wall, the wall opposite Diana, was all window, displaying a spectacular view of the forest surrounding the manor as well as the setting sun. She had to squint in order to see her aunt, something Daryl no doubt did intentionally. Daryl herself sat at her large cherry wood desk typing quickly and not bothering to look at Diana "Yes?"

The young woman took a deep breath as she stepped forward, making sure to close the door behind her. "I need to discuss something with you."

Daryl still didn't look up from the computer monitor "I'm busy Diana it's going to have to wait."

The young woman felt a twinge of anger. "No, this can't wait. We're going to talk about this now."

The tone in Diana's voice caught her aunts attention. The older woman stopped mid-mouse click and looked up at her niece, fire in her eyes and a sneer on her face. "Alright, you have five minutes."

"I want you to stop pushing me to settle down. You need to stop trying to interfere in my life."

Daryl scoffed. "Excuse me?"

Diana felt her legs propel her forward a few steps unwillingly, bringing her closer to the desk."You really think I don't see what you've been doing? This last year you've been pushing men on me and dropping not so subtle hints about what _you_ feel I should be doing after Luna Nova. I'm not tolerating it anymore! You may be my guardian, but only in the legal sense and even then just barely!"

The silence hung heavy as Daryl leaned back in her chair, her arm on the rest and her hand on her chin. The look on her face was almost a cross between amused and annoyed "Are you done?"

Diana glared at her but remained silent. The older Cavendish took it as a yes "If your goal is to save the house, the first thing you're going to need to do is plan a strategic marriage. It's something that's been done since the beginning of time. I did it, your grandmother did it, almost every Cavendish in our family has done it. Right up until your mother. And look at how marrying for love worked out for her, for our family!."

The young heiress crossed her arms, trying to control the simmering anger inside. "I do understand that, however, I also understand that this isn't the twelfth century. There are other ways to make strategic alliances without marrying me off to a stranger."

"It doesn't have to be a stranger. The Earl of Hanbridge has made several offers."

Diana's eyes flashed in anger and her voice raised. "Offers? I'm not something to buy!"

Daryl stood. "Enough! You wanted to take over the house, you want to fix everything, this is how it's going to happen!"

"There are other ways! Mother found them!"

"Bernadette made things worse! She sacrificed the good of the house for the good of others and it's time we focused on ourselves! How can House Cavendish help others if it ceases to exist? Did you think about that at all Diana?"

Daryl had a point, and they both knew it. Diana was silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, she nodded, not looking at her aunt at all. Daryl seemed to relax a bit. "We will figure this out. But you need to actually listen to me when we discuss this, not reject things simply because it was I who suggested them. Now, going back to your original complaint. Give me one good reason to stop forcing suitors on you, one solid reason, and I will stop."

 _Twenty seconds of courage...twenty seconds…._

She looked up and locked eyes with her aunt. "Because I'm in love with Akko."

And there it was, out in the open. In any other situation, under different circumstances, the look on Daryl's face would have been comical. But here and now, all Diana could do was stand there and wait for things to go to hell.

Daryl turned away from Diana and walked up to the window, her arms crossed, and looked out it, watching the sunset. The office had belonged to Diana's great-aunt Harriet and had been passed down to Daryl at the time of her death. Apparently, they had been close.

Finally, Daryl let out a breath. "I don't approve."

"I don't want your approval." Pride and defiance rang strong in the young woman's voice.

Daryl turned around to face Diana "There are at least a dozen noble girls who happen to prefer women Diana. If that's the only issue we can fix that."

"I'm dating Akko. I don't want someone else. I want my girlfriend. That is why she's my girlfriend in the first place and you don't get to interfere in that!"

Daryl looked at her again, like she was mulling something over. Finally, she sat down in her chair and turned back to her computer. "Fine."

Diana didn't believe what she was hearing. "W-what?"

"I said fine, Diana, now leave before I change my mind."

The young woman turned and left, very dumbfounded and suspicious. She was expecting a fight. A furious screaming match with the older Cavendish. She was expecting disownment, verbal abuse, maybe even a duel. She had actually spent the last week studying up specifically on combat magic and dueling techniques.

And yet here she was, walking down the hall, wondering how she would explain this to Akko, and wondering how loud Akko would scream when she found out.

(~*~*~*~*~*~)

Daryl leaned back in her chair after finishing an email and sighed. She had been waiting for Diana to venture out of the closet for some time. She was never positive And there was also a smaller part that had hoped Diana would have stayed in the closet just for simplicity's sake. But when did Diana ever do what she was told?

And then there was her choice of partner. Out of every girl she could have had, Diana had picked that screwball of a witch. That was where Daryl's real issue lay. However, even in that, her hands were tied. She just had to hope they would have a falling out, and then she could find her niece a proper suitor.

" _Promise me, Daryl... Please… Look out for her…"_

" _Bernadette…"_

" _Please...keep her-help her….find happiness after I…."_

" _I promise."_

Daryl spun around in her chair to watch the sunset through the windows. Diana would never know, but her approval or disapproval had never even entered the equation. The outcome of that conversation had been determined over five years ago. She may have been hard on Diana, but Daryl honestly believed it was for the best. The line she walked was a difficult one, on one side she had to protect her house, and on the other, she had the niece she had promised to protect and look out for. Doing both was proving to be quite difficult.

Yes, her hands were quite tied. Bernadette was making her life hard, even from beyond the grave.

She chuckled to herself. She would have expected nothing less.


End file.
